People who have the guts to step out of the line and make a bold move become our idols. And there is one such person whom history does not remember too brightly, but her personality, her ideologies and her contribution to India surely makes her a woman everyone should know about and most importantly learn from.

She is Dr Lakshmi Sahgal, a lady who inspired many with her soaring aspirations. A lady whom every woman should follow. Why? Because no one who ever remained normal lived a beautiful life.

She stood against caste system since childhood

She was against the caste system right since childhood. According to her grandmother, the lower caste people were those ‘whose very shadows are polluting.’ Defying this, she walked up to a young tribal girl, held her hand and played with her, which obviously turned her grandmother furious.

She plunged into the field of politics to bring some concrete changes in the system

She observed that in South, the fight for political freedom was fought alongside the struggle for social reform. Reading books like Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China forced her to think, reflect and act to change things.

She met Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose which led her to form the Rani of Jhansi regiment, solely for women

After a 5-hour interview with Netaji, a mandate to set up a woman’s regiment called the Rani of Jhansi regiment, emerged. This regiment would ”fight for Indian independence and would make it complete.” There was a tremendous response to join the Rani of Jhansi regiment. There were 1,000 women and 200 nurses. Thus, Dr Lakshmi became Captain Lakshmi.

She stated that real freedom comes in the form of political, economic and social emancipations and that India has achieved just the first

She was an indefatigable fighter for the emancipations that she talked about. She knew that India needs a concrete change in its economic and social reforms. Though, she strived hard enough to change the political stature of India by being a member of different political parties, economic and social still remained, even at that time.

She joined Communist Party of India and organised many relief camps for Bangladesh Crisis and Bhopal Gas tragedy

She personally swept the street in front of the place, to clear away the litter the neighbours threw out of their windows.

According to the Economist, she did that because this was the change that she wanted to see in India. And today? We have our honourable Prime minister, Mr Narendra Modi, who is seen teaching the importance of cleanliness through Swach Bharat Abhiyan and even then, the things aren’t changing.

In the year 1998, Captain Lakshmi was awarded the civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan by the President of India, K.R Narayanan.

Her death

She suffered a cardiac arrest and died on 23 July 2012, at the age of 97 in Kanpur.

A freedom fighter, dedicated medical practitioner, and an outstanding leader of the women’s movement in India, Captain Lakshmi, without a speck of doubt, left the country and its people a fine and enduring legacy.